Channel bonding and bonded channel access

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses, methods, and computer readable media for channel bonding and bonded channel access. The apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to: gain access to a first 10 MHz channel and to a second 10 MHz channel, and encode a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission over a bonded channel, the bonded channel comprising the first 10 MHz channel and the second 10 MHz channel, where the PPDU is encoded to comprise a legacy preamble portion to be transmitted on the first 10 MHz channel and a repeated legacy preamble portion to be transmitted on the second 10 MHz channel, the PPDU further including a non-legacy portion, the non-legacy portion comprising a non-legacy signal field indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used to encode a data portion of the non-legacy portion, the data portion to be transmitted on the bonded channel.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/675,906, filed May 24,2018, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/728,633, filedSep. 7, 2018, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless networks and wireless communications.Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks (WLANs) andWi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with the IEEE802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to IEEE 802.11bdand/or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). Some embodiments relate to methods,computer readable media, and apparatus for channel bonding and bondedchannel access.

BACKGROUND

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network (WLAN)is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to theusers of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to sharethe same resources and some devices may be limited by the communicationprotocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wirelessdevices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacydevice protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which anyone or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein mayperform;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device 700upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies oroperations) discussed herein may perform;

FIG. 8 illustrates a channelization, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a PPDU format, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a PPDU format, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates a PPDU format, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates a PPDU format, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 illustrates a NGV SIG, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 15 illustrates network allocation vector (NAV) setting, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 16 illustrates a method for channel bonding and bonded channelaccess, in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 17 illustrates a method for channel bonding and bonded channelaccess, in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-endmodule (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and basebandprocessing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 as shown includes bothWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT)functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In thisdisclosure, “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 104A and aBluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104A mayinclude a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operateon WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplifythe received signals and to provide the amplified versions of thereceived signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for furtherprocessing. The BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signalsreceived from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signalsand to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BTradio IC circuitry 106B for further processing. FEM circuitry 104A mayalso include a transmit signal path which may include circuitryconfigured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry106A for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101. Inaddition, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided bythe radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by the one or moreantennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104A and FEM 104Bare shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not solimited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown)that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BTsignals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least someof the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106Aand BT radio IC circuitry 106B. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A mayinclude a receive signal path which may include circuitry todown-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104A andprovide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A. BTradio IC circuitry 106B may in turn include a receive signal path whichmay include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 104B and provide baseband signals to BT basebandprocessing circuitry 108B. WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may also includea transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLANbaseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108Aand provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104A forsubsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BTradio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path whichmay include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by theBT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signalsto the FEM circuitry 104B for subsequent wireless transmission by theone or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio ICcircuitries 106A and 106B are shown as being distinct from one another,embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the useof a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal pathand/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use ofone or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio ICcircuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN andBT signals.

Baseband processing circuitry 108 may include a WLAN baseband processingcircuitry 108A and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108B. The WLANbaseband processing circuitry 108A may include a memory, such as, forexample, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform or Inverse FastFourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processingcircuitry 108A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BTbaseband circuitry 108B may further include one or more processors andcontrol logic to process the signals received from the correspondingWLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106, and toalso generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmitsignal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the basebandprocessing circuitries 108A and 108B may further include physical layer(PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may furtherinterface with application processor 111 for generation and processingof the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio ICcircuitry 106.

Referring still to FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BT orCellular V2x (C-V2X) coexistence circuitry 113 may include logicproviding an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and theBT baseband circuitry 108B to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BTcoexistence.

In some embodiments, the 5 GHz/6 GHz Unlicensed band where Wi-Fioperates is adjacent to 5.9 GHz where IEEE 802.11p/IEEE 802.11bdoperates. In some embodiments, the circuitry 113 is configured forcoexistence among Wi-Fi operating in 5.9 GHz (IEEE 802.11p/IEEE802.11bd), Wi-Fi operating in 2.4/5 GHz (e.g., IEEE 802.11n/ac/ax), andCellular V2X solutions (also operating in 5.9 GHz.)

In addition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between the WLANand BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although theantennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLANFEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B, embodiments includewithin their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between theWLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected toeach of FEM 104A or 104B.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 104, the radio ICcircuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided ona single radio card, such as wireless radio card 102. In some otherembodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and theradio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In someother embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the basebandprocessing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or integratedcircuit (IC), such as IC 112.

In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 102 may include a WLANradio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some ofthese embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured toreceive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) ororthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communicationsignals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMAsignals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 may bepart of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless accesspoint (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device.For example, an On-board units (OBU) or Road Side Unit (RSU) of IEEE802.11p/bd. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 100 may beconfigured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specificcommunication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Instituteof Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, IEEE802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE802.11ax, IEEE 802.11ad, IEEE 802.11ay, IEEE 802.11p, and/or WiGigstandards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications inaccordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured forhigh-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with theIEEE 802.11p/bd. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may beconfigured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configuredto transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more othermodulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., directsequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequencyhopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limitedin this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, the BT basebandcircuitry 108B may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivitystandard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any otheriteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BTfunctionality as shown for example in FIG. 1, the radio architecture 100may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented(SCO) link and/or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of theembodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 100 maybe configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BTcommunications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BTfunctionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in aBT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments,as shown in FIG. 1, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio cardmay be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wirelessradio card 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and includewithin their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 100 may include other radiocards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3GPPsuch as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may beconfigured for communication over various channel bandwidths includingbandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz,5.9 GHz (bandwidths of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 Mhz), andbandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz,16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80 MHz(160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is notlimited with respect to the above center frequencies however. In someembodiments, a 2.16 GHz channel may be used. In some embodiments, theremay be a primary 2.16 GHz channel and one or more secondary 2.16 GHzchannels. In some embodiments, one or more of the 2.16 GHz channels thatare adjacent may be bonded together.

FIG. 2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with someembodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that maybe suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104A/104B (FIG.1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a TX/RX switch202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include alow-noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 andprovide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output (e.g., to theradio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of thecircuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RFsignals 209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one ormore filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters(LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG.1)).

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequencyspectrum, the 5 GHz frequency spectrum, the 5.9 GHz frequency spectrum,or the 60 GHz spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path ofthe FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path duplexer 204 toseparate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separateLNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter foreach frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 214 toprovide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a singletransmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of theantennas 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BT communications mayutilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry200 as the one used for WLAN communications.

FIG. 3 illustrates radio IC circuitry 300 in accordance with someembodiments. The radio IC circuitry 300 is one example of circuitry thatmay be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106A/106B(FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include a receivesignal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of theradio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry 302, suchas, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry306 and filter circuitry 308. The transmit signal path of the radio ICcircuitry 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixercircuitry 314, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry.Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry 304 forsynthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and themixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each,according to some embodiments, be configured to provide directconversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a muchsimpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixercircuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may bealleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 3illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and mayinclude, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depictedcircuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixercircuitry 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filtercircuitries 308 and/or 312 may each include one or more filters, such asone or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. Forexample, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, theymay each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured todown-convert RF signals 207 received from the FEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1)based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry304. The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include a LPFconfigured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals togenerate output baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may beprovided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for furtherprocessing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may bezero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. Insome embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured toup-convert input baseband signals 311 based on the synthesized frequency305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 304 to generate RF outputsignals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 311 may beprovided by the baseband processing circuitry 108 and may be filtered byfilter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or aBPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedown-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help ofsynthesizer 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and themixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configuredfor image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may bearranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion,respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixercircuitry 314 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, althoughthis is not a requirement.

Mixer circuitry 302 may comprise, according to one embodiment:quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadraturephase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 207 from FIG. 3may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to besent to the baseband processor

Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety-degreetime-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitrywhich may be configured to receive a LO frequency (f_(LO)) from a localoscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304(FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrierfrequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be afraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency,one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero andninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by thesynthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (thepercentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset(the difference between start points of the period). In someembodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset.In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., thein-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% dutycycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

The RF input signal 207 (FIG. 2) may comprise a balanced signal,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-noseamplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 306 (FIG. 3) or to filtercircuitry 308 (FIG. 3).

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the inputbaseband signals 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input basebandsignals 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateembodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for otherspectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments isnot limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional-Nsynthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequencysynthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 304 maybe a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizercomprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According tosome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may include digitalsynthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizercircuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components,its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of ananalog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input intosynthesizer circuity 304 may be provided by a voltage controlledoscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider controlinput may further be provided by either the baseband processingcircuitry 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 111 (FIG. 1)depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, adivider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table(e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channelcenter frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor111.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrierfrequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrierfrequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a LOfrequency (F_(LO)).

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processingcircuitry 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The basebandprocessing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry that may besuitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1),although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. Thebaseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive basebandprocessor (RX BBP) 402 for processing receive baseband signals 309provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit basebandprocessor (TX BBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 forthe radio IC circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 400 mayalso include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of thebaseband processing circuitry 400.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchangedbetween the baseband processing circuitry 400 and the radio IC circuitry106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 toconvert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 402. In theseembodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 404 to analogbaseband signals.

In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, suchas through baseband processor 108A, the transmit baseband processor 404may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate fortransmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). Thereceive baseband processor 402 may be configured to process receivedOFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments,the receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to detect thepresence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing anautocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and byperforming a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preamblesmay be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antennas 101 (FIG. 1)may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas,including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patchantennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennassuitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectivelyseparated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the differentchannel characteristics that may result. Antennas 101 may each include aset of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

Although the radio-architecture 100 is illustrated as having severalseparate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements maybe combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 in accordance with some embodiments. TheWLAN may comprise a basis service set (BSS) or personal BSS (PBSS) 500that may include an access point (AP) 502, which may be an AP or astation acting as a PB SS control point (PCP), stations 504 (e.g., IEEE802.11bd), and legacy devices 506 (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/n/ac/ad/p/j/p). InIEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11bd, the AP 502 and/or STA 504 may operate inOut of Context of BSS (OCB) mode, where the is no AP 502 coordinatingthe communications and the STA 504 broadcast the messages (PPDUs) forall other STAs 504 (or APs 502) nearby to here.

In some embodiments, the access point 502 and/or stations 504 may beIEEE 802.11bd and/or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). In some embodiments,the legacy devices 506 may be wireless devices. The AP 502, STA 504,and/or legacy devices 506 may be part of a wireless structure forvehicles. The AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506 may beconfigured to operate in accordance with next generation vehicle (NGV).NGV may be termed IEEE 802.11bd. Additionally, NGV and/or IEEE 802.11bdmay be given different names.

The AP 502 may be an AP configured to transmit and receive in accordancewith one or more IEEE 802.11 communication protocols, IEEE 802.11ax,IEEE 802.11ay, IEEE 802.11bd (Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). In someembodiments, the access point 502 is a base station. The access point502 may be part of a PBSS. The access point 502 may use othercommunications protocols as well as the IEEE 802.11 protocol. The IEEE802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/orcode division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol mayinclude a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11protocol may include code division multiple access (CDMA),space-division multiple access (SDMA), multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO), multi-user (MU) MIMO (MU-MIMO), and/or single-inputsingle-output (SISO). The access point 502 and/or station 504 may beconfigured to operate in accordance with Next Generation 60 (NG60), WiFiGigabyte (WiGiG), IEEE 802.11ay, IEEE 80211a/b/n/ac/ad/g/p, and/or IEEE802.11bd.

The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more ofIEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/p, or another legacy wirelesscommunication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be IEEE 802 stations.The stations 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such asvehicles, and road side units, cellular telephone, smart telephone,handheld wireless device, wireless glasses, wireless watch, wirelesspersonal device, tablet, or another device that may be transmitting andreceiving using the IEEE 802.11 protocol such as IEEE 802.11p/ay/ax/bdor another wireless protocol. The stations 504 and/or access point 502may be attached to a BSS or may operate outside the context of BSS 100.The access point 502 may be a station 504 taking the role of the PCP.

The access point 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 inaccordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. The STA 504may communicate with one another using legacy communication protocols,e.g., IEEE 802.11p. In example embodiments, the access point 502 mayalso be configured to communicate with stations 504 in accordance withlegacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. The access point 502 mayuse techniques of 802.11ad for communication with legacy devices 106.The access point 502 and/or stations 504 may be a personal basic serviceset (PBSS) Control Point (PCP) which can be equipped with large apertureantenna array or Modular Antenna Array (MAA).

The access point 502 and/or stations 504 may be equipped with more thanone antenna. Each of the antennas of access point 502 and/or stations504 may be a phased array antenna with many elements. In someembodiments, an IEEE 802.11ay frame may be configurable to have the samebandwidth as a channel. In some embodiments, the access point 502 and/orstations 504 may be equipped with one or more directional multi-gigabit(DMG) antennas or enhanced DMG (EDMG) antennas, which may includemultiple radio-frequency base band (RF-BB) chains. The access point 502and/or stations 504 may be configured to perform beamforming and mayhave an antenna weight vector (AWV) associated with one or moreantennas. In some embodiments, the AP 502 and/or stations 504 may be aEDMG AP 502 or EDMG station 504, respectively. In some embodiments, theaccess point 502 and/or STA 504 may transmit a frame, e.g., a PPDU.

An IEEE 802.11bd frame may be configured for transmitting a number ofspatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO. In otherembodiments, the AP 502, stations 504, and/or legacy devices 506 mayalso implement different technologies such as code division multipleaccess (CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 1×, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized(EV-DO), Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95),Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global Systemfor Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies. Insome embodiments, the AP 502 and/or stations 504 may be configured toimplement more than one communications protocols, which may becollocated in the same device. The two or more communications protocolsmay use common or separate components to implement the communicationsprotocols.

In accordance with some IEEE 802.11bd embodiments, an STA 504 (or AP502) may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during acontention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium, which maybe termed a transmission opportunity (TxOP) for performing beamformingtraining for a multiple access technique such as OFDMA or MU-MIMO. Insome embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during a TxOP maybe a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is not a requirement. Insome embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a space-divisionmultiple access (SDMA) technique. The AP 502 may communicate with legacystations 506 and/or stations 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques. In some embodiments, AP 502 may be a STA 504operating as an AP.

In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 5, the front-endmodule circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or thebase-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 may be configured to performthe methods and functions herein described in conjunction with FIGS.1-17.

In example embodiments, the stations 504, an apparatus of the stations504, the access point 502, and/or an apparatus of an access point 502,may include one or more of the following: the radio architecture of FIG.1, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry ofFIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4.

In example embodiments, the stations 504, apparatuses of the stations504, the access points 502, and/or apparatuses of the access point 502,are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein inconjunction with FIGS. 1-17. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more ofthe IEEE 802.11 communication standards. AP may refer to an access point502. STA may refer to a station 504 and/or a legacy device 506.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 600 upon whichany one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed hereinmay perform. In alternative embodiments, the machine 600 may operate asa standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine 600 may operate in thecapacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-clientnetwork environments. In an example, the machine 600 may act as a peermachine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) networkenvironment. The machine 600 may be a access point 502, HE station 104,personal computer (PC), a vehicle, roadside unit, a tablet PC, a set-topbox (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable communicationsdevice, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a networkrouter, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executinginstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated,the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection ofmachines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets)of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS),other computer cluster configurations.

Machine (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicatewith each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608.

Specific examples of main memory 604 include Random Access Memory (RAM),and semiconductor memory devices, which may include, in someembodiments, storage locations in semiconductors such as registers.Specific examples of static memory 606 include non-volatile memory, suchas semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The machine 600 may further include a display device 610, an inputdevice 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigationdevice 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 610, inputdevice 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display.The machine 600 may additionally include a mass storage (e.g., driveunit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a networkinterface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or othersensor. The machine 600 may include an output controller 628, such as aserial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired orwireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.)connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices(e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). In some embodiments the processor602 and/or instructions 624 may comprise one or more of physical layercircuitry, MAC layer circuitry, processing circuitry, and/or transceivercircuitry. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry may include oneor more of the processor 602, the instructions 624, physical layercircuitry, MAC layer circuity, and/or transceiver circuitry. Theprocessor 602, instructions 624, physical layer circuitry, MAC layercircuity, processing circuitry, and/or transceiver circuitry may beconfigured to perform one or more of the methods and/or operationsdisclosed herein.

The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium 622 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604,within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 duringexecution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, thestatic memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute machinereadable media.

Specific examples of machine readable media may include: non-volatilememory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM or EEPROM) andflash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks.

While the machine readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium,the term “machine readable medium” may include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) configured to store the one or moreinstructions 624.

In some embodiments, an apparatus used by the station 500 may includevarious components of the station 504 as shown in FIG. 5 and/or theexample machines 100, 200, 300, or 600. Accordingly, techniques andoperations described herein that refer to the station 504 may beapplicable to an apparatus of the station 504, in some embodiments. Itshould also be noted that in some embodiments, an apparatus used by theAP 502 may include various components of the AP 502 as shown in FIG. 5and/or the example machine 100, 200, 300, or 600. Accordingly,techniques and operations described herein that refer to the AP 502 maybe applicable to an apparatus for an AP, in some embodiments.

An apparatus of the machine 600 may be one or more of a hardwareprocessor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combinationthereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, sensors 621,network interface device 620, antennas 660, a display device 610, aninput device 612, a UI navigation device 614, a mass storage 616,instructions 624, a signal generation device 618, and an outputcontroller 628. The apparatus may be configured to perform one or moreof the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. The apparatus may beintended as a component of the machine 600 to perform one or more of themethods and/or operations disclosed herein, and/or to perform a portionof one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. Insome embodiments, the apparatus may include a pin or other means toreceive power. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include powerconditioning hardware. Accordingly, apparatuses, devices, and operationsdescribed herein that refer to the station 504 and/or AP 502 may beapplicable to an apparatus for the station 504 and/or AP 502.

The term “machine readable medium” may include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 to perform any one ormore of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated withsuch instructions. Non-limiting machine readable medium examples mayinclude solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specificexamples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory,such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RandomAccess Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples,machine readable media may include non-transitory machine-readablemedia. In some examples, machine readable media may include machinereadable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 626 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 620 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols(e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission controlprotocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), WAVE protocol, etc.). Example communication networksmay include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), apacket data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks(e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, andwireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.6.4 family of standards,a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P)networks, among others.

In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or morephysical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or moreantennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example,the network interface device 620 may include one or more antennas 660 towirelessly communicate using at least one of single-inputmultiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), ormultiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, thenetwork interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using MultipleUser MIMO techniques. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken toinclude any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying instructions for execution by the machine 600, and includesdigital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium tofacilitate communication of such software.

Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations andmay be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example,circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to externalentities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. Inan example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwareprocessors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g.,instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a modulethat operates to perform specified operations. In an example, thesoftware may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, thesoftware, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causesthe hardware to perform the specified operations.

Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangibleentity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specificallyconfigured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily)configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or toperform part or all of any operation described herein. Consideringexamples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of themodules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example,where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processorconfigured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may beconfigured as respective different modules at different times. Softwaremay accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, toconstitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitutea different module at a different instance of time.

Some embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in softwareand/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form ofinstructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by oneor more processors to enable performance of the operations describedherein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but notlimited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readablemedium may include any tangible non-transitory medium for storinginformation in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but notlimited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magneticdisk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device 700upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies oroperations) discussed herein may perform. The wireless device 700 may bea HE device. The wireless device 700 may be a HE STA 504 and/or HE AP502 (e.g., FIG. 5). A HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 may include some orall of the components shown in FIGS. 1-7. The wireless device 700 may bean example machine 600 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 6.

The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708. Theprocessing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702, physical layercircuitry (PHY circuitry) 704, and MAC layer circuitry (MAC circuitry)706, one or more of which may enable transmission and reception ofsignals to and from other wireless devices 700 (e.g. IEEE 802.11bd STA504, AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506) using one or moreantennas 712. As an example, the PHY circuitry 704 may perform variousencoding and decoding functions that may include formation of basebandsignals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As anotherexample, the transceiver 702 may perform various transmission andreception functions such as conversion of signals between a basebandrange and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

Accordingly, the PHY circuitry 704 and the transceiver 702 may beseparate components or may be part of a combined component, e.g.,processing circuitry 708. In addition, some of the describedfunctionality related to transmission and reception of signals may beperformed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the PHYcircuitry 704 the transceiver 702, MAC circuitry 706, memory 710, andother components or layers. The MAC circuitry 706 may control access tothe wireless medium. The wireless device 700 may also include memory 710arranged to perform the operations described herein, e.g., some of theoperations described herein may be performed by instructions stored inthe memory 710.

The antennas 712 (some embodiments may include only one antenna) maycomprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including,for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loopantennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable fortransmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 712 may be effectively separated totake advantage of spatial diversity and the different channelcharacteristics that may result.

One or more of the memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712, and/or the processingcircuitry 708 may be coupled with one another. Moreover, although memory710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706,the antennas 712 are illustrated as separate components, one or more ofmemory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MACcircuitry 706, the antennas 712 may be integrated in an electronicpackage or chip.

In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be a mobile device asdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 6. In some embodiments, the wirelessdevice 700 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or morewireless communication standards as described herein (e.g., as describedin conjunction with FIGS. 1-6, IEEE 802.11). In some embodiments, thewireless device 700 may include one or more of the components asdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 6 (e.g., display device 610, inputdevice 612, etc.) Although the wireless device 700 is illustrated ashaving several separate functional elements, one or more of thefunctional elements may be combined and may be implemented bycombinations of software-configured elements, such as processingelements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or otherhardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or moremicroprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequencyintegrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware andlogic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein.In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or moreprocesses operating on one or more processing elements.

In some embodiments, an apparatus of or used by the wireless device 700may include various components of the wireless device 700 as shown inFIG. 7 and/or components from FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, techniques andoperations described herein that refer to the wireless device 700 may beapplicable to an apparatus for a wireless device 700 (e.g., IEEE802.11bd STA, AP 502 and/or STA 504), in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/orencode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e.g., PPDUs.

In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contendfor a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control ofthe medium for a TXOP and encode or decode a IEEE 802.11bd PPDU. In someembodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for thewireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmittingpower level, and a clear channel assessment level (e.g., an energydetect level).

The PHY circuitry 704 may be arranged to transmit signals in accordancewith one or more communication standards described herein. For example,the PHY circuitry 704 may be configured to transmit an IEEE 802.11bdPPDU. The PHY circuitry 704 may include circuitry formodulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering,amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708may include one or more processors. The processing circuitry 708 may beconfigured to perform functions based on instructions being stored in aRAM or ROM, or based on special purpose circuitry. The processingcircuitry 708 may include a processor such as a general-purposeprocessor or special purpose processor. The processing circuitry 708 mayimplement one or more functions associated with antennas 712, thetransceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, and/orthe memory 710. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may beconfigured to perform one or more of the functions/operations and/ormethods described herein.

In mmWave technology, communication between a station (e.g., thestations 504 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) and an access point(e.g., the AP 502 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) may use associatedeffective wireless channels that are highly directionally dependent. Toaccommodate the directionality, beamforming techniques may be utilizedto radiate energy in a certain direction with certain beamwidth tocommunicate between two devices. The directed propagation concentratestransmitted energy toward a target device in order to compensate forsignificant energy loss in the channel between the two communicatingdevices. Using directed transmission may extend the range of themillimeter-wave communication versus utilizing the same transmittedenergy in omni-directional propagation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a channelization 800, in accordance with someembodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 8 is frequency 810, channel number 812,channel usage 814, guard band (G) 804, channels 802. The frequency 810indicates the frequency 810 across a frequency range. The guard band (G)804 is from frequency 5850 MHz to 5855 MHz. The channel number 812indicates a channel number 812 assigned to a channel 802. For example,channel 802.1 is assigned channel number 812 of 172. Channel usage 814indicates a usage of the channels 802 in accordance with someembodiments. For example, channel 802.1 (channel number 812 of 172) hasa usage of service channel (SCH) and channel 802.1 (channel number 812of 178) has a channel usage 814 of control channel (CCH). In someembodiments, channel 802.5 (channel number 812 of 178) is reserved forcontrol services. In some embodiments, channel 802.5 (channel number 812of 178) is not reserved for control services.

Channels 802.1, 802.2, 802.3, 802.5, 802.6, 802.7, and 802.9 are 10 MHzchannels. Channels 802.4 and 802.8 are 20 MHz channels. Channel 802.4may be channels 802.2 and 802.3 bonded. Channel 802.8 may be channels802.6 and 802.7 bonded.

In some embodiments, the channelization 800 may be used for DedicatedShort Range Communications (DSRC). In some embodiments, a DSRC band of5.9 GHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) is reserved for vehicle communications, e.g.,vehicle to everything (V2X), vehicle to infrastructure (V21), vehicle tonetwork (V2N), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to pedestrian (V2P),vehicle-to-device (V2D), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G). The channelization800 of FIG. 8 may be used for one or more of the communications asdisclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the channelization 800 may be used by IEEE 802.11pand/or IEEE 802.11bd. In some embodiments, AP 502, STA 504, and/orlegacy device 506 are configured to operate in accordance with IEEE802.11p where the physical layer (PHY) is the same or similar as the PHYof IEEE 802.11a, i.e., 20 MHz, single input single output (SISO), butwith the difference that it is downclocked by 2 in order to operate in a10 MHz channel, e.g., channels 802.1, 802.2, 802.3, 802.5, 802.6, 802.7,and 802.9.

In some embodiments, the media access control (MAC) portion of IEEE802.11p enables the AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506, totransmit out of context of a BSS 500 (OCB). The OCB transmissions (e.g.,PPDUs) enables the vehicles (e.g., a vehicle that includes one or moreof AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy device 506) to broadcast safetymessages without associating with a BSS (e.g., 500). The format of thesafety messages and their content may be as defined in IEEE 1609 andSociety of Automotive Engineers (SAE) specifications, respectively. InIEEE 1609, to endure all vehicles receive high priority safety relatedmessages there is a dedicated control channel (CCH), e.g., channel 802.5of FIG. 8. In some embodiments, the messages of IEEE 1609 are inaccordance with wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) shortmessage protocol (WSMP), which may be a message protocol that runs overIEEE 802.11p. In some embodiments, AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacydevices 506 to operate in accordance with WSMP.

In some embodiments, the AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506, maybe configured to operate in accordance with one or more cellular basedprotocols. In some embodiments, the AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacydevices 506 are configured to operate IEEE 802.11 bd in accordance withMIMO, higher MCSs than IEEE 802.11p, Low-density parity-check (LDPC),extended range Dual Sub-Carrier Modulation (DCM), Space-time block code(STBC), midambles, and traveling pilots.

In some embodiments, IEEE 802.11p uses only the 10 MHz channels 802 ofFIG. 8. In some embodiments, using bonded channels or 20 MHz channels,e.g., 802.4, which has a channel number 812 of 175 or 802.8, which has achannel number 812 of 181, may interfere with legacy device 506 and/ordevices using legacy protocols such as IEEE 802.11p. In someembodiments, AP 502 and/or STA 504 are configured to bond one or morechannels 802. In some embodiments, AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacydevices 506 are configured to bond one or more channels 802 where thechannels are not contiguous.

FIG. 9 illustrates a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) 900,in accordance with some embodiments. The PPDU 900 may be a NGV (or IEEE802.11bd) PPDU. The PPDU 900 may include be transmitted over a bonded 20MHz channel comprising primary channel 926 and secondary channel 924.The primary channel 926 and secondary channel 924 may each be a 10 MHzchannel 802 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8.

The PPDU 900 may include a portion that is repeated for each 10 MHzchannel, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 9, legacy short-training field(L-STF) 902, 916, legacy long-training field (L-LTF) 904, 918, legacysignal field (L-SIG) 906, 920, and NGV-SIG 908, 922. One or more of thefields L-STF 902, 916, L-LTF 904, 918, L-SIG 906, 920 may be the same orsimilar as a legacy field, e.g., IEEE 802.11p. The PPDU 900 may furthercomprise a portion that is transmitted over the entire bonded channel,primary channel 926 and second channel 924. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 9, the PPDU 900 may include a NGV-STF 910, NGV-LTF 912, and adata field 914. There may be one or more additional fields notillustrated. One or more of the fields may be optional.

The PPDU 900 may include a legacy, e.g., IEEE 802.11p, compatiblepreamble, e.g., L-STF 902, 916, L-LTF 904, 918, L-SIG 906, 920, which is10 MHz wide and is duplicated over the two bonded channels (e.g.,primary channel 926, and secondary channel 924). The PPDU 900 thenfollows the legacy compatible preamble with a new non-legacy compatiblepreamble, e.g., NGV-SIG 908, 922, which is 10 MHz wide and duplicated oneach 10 MHz channel. The data field 914 is transmitted over the bondedchannel (20 MHz), primary channel 926 and secondary channel 924. In someembodiments, the PPDU 900 is the same or similar to a IEEE 802.11n orIEEE 802.11ac PPDU downclocked by two.

In some embodiments, NGV-SIG 908, 922 comprise a bandwidth field thatindicates the bandwidth which is used by the PPDU 900, e.g., asillustrated 20 MHz. In some embodiments, the NGV-SIG 908, 922 may be thesame or similar to a HT-SIG or VHT-SIG. In some embodiments, L-STFs 902,916, L-LTFs 904, 918, L-SIGs 906, 920, and NGV-SIG 908, 922 may betransmitted to be compatible with legacy devices, e.g., IEEE 802.11p.NGV-STF 910, NGV-LTF 912, and data 914 may be modulated in accordancewith indications of modulation in NGV-SIGs 908, 922.

FIG. 10 illustrates a PPDU format 1000, 1050, in accordance with someembodiments. PPDUs 1000, 1050 may be NGV (or IEEE 802.11bd) PPDUs. PPDUs1000, 1050 may be transmitted over a bonded 20 MHz channel comprisingprimary channel 1018 and secondary channel 1020. The primary channel1018 and secondary channel 1020 may each be a 10 MHz channel 802 asdisclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8. PPDU 1000, 1050 may include thesame fields and may be transmitted within a 10 MHz channel, e.g.,primary channel 1018 and secondary channel 1020. In some embodiments,the primary channel 1018 and secondary channel 1020 do not have to becontiguous.

PPDUs 1000, 1050 may include L-STFs 1002, 1010, L-LTFs 1004, 1012,L-SIGs 1006, 1014, and data field 1008, 1016, respectively. L-STFs 1002,1010, L-LTFs 1004, 1012, and L-SIGs 1006, 1014 may be the same orsimilar as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 9. PPDUs 1000, 1050 mayinclude one or more additional fields. The data fields 1008, 1016 maycomprise different data. In some embodiments, the bonded channel may notbe contiguous, e.g., channel 802.1 and channel 802.5. The PPDUs 1000,1050 may be compatible with IEEE 802.11p and/or other legacycommunication protocols. The AP 502 and/or STA 504 may be configured totransmit PPDUs 1000, 1050 on separate channels 802. In some embodiments,the PPDUs 1000, 1050 may be IEEE 802.11p duplicative PPDUs.

FIG. 11 illustrates a PPDU format 1100, 1150, in accordance with someembodiments. PPDUs 1100, 1150 may be NGV (or IEEE 802.11bd) PPDUs. PPDUs1100, 1150 may be transmitted over a bonded 20 MHz channel comprisingprimary channel 1126 and secondary channel 1124. The primary channel1126 and secondary channel 1124 may each be a 10 MHz channel 802 asdisclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8. PPDU 1100, 1150 may include thesame fields and may be transmitted within a 10 MHz channel, e.g.,primary channel 1126 and secondary channel 1124. In some embodiments,the primary channel 1126 and secondary channel 1124 do not have to becontiguous.

PPDUs 1100, 1150 may include L-STFs 1102, 1016, L-LTFs 1004, 1012, L-SIG1006, 1014, NGV-SIGs 1108, 1122, NGV-STFs 1110, 1118, NGV-LTF 1112,1120, and data fields 1114, 1122, respectively. L-STFs 1102, 1010, aL-LTFs 1004, 1012, and L-SIG 1006, 1014 may be the same or similar asdisclosed in conjunction with FIG. 9. NGV-SIG 1108, 1122 may indicate amodulation and coding scheme for NGV-STF 1110, 1118, NGV-LTF 1112, 1120,and data 1114, 1122. In some embodiments, NGV-SIG 1108, 1122 may includean indication of a type of channel bonding that is used, e.g., separatemodulation on separate channels or modulation on a bonded channel. Thedata fields 1114, 1122 may comprises different data. Legacy devices 506may be able to decode L-STF 1102, 1116, L-LTF 1104, L-LTF 1118, andL-SIG 1106, 1120, and thus be able to defer based on a length indicatedin L-SIG 1106, 1120.

PPDUs 1100, 1150 may include one or more additional fields. In someembodiments, the bonded channel (e.g., primary channel 1126, secondarychannel 1124) may not be contiguous, e.g., channel 802.1 and channel802.5.

In some embodiments, L-STFs 1102, 1016, L-LTFs 1004, 1012, and L-SIG1006, 1014 may be transmitted to be compatible with legacy devices,e.g., IEEE 802.11p. NGV-STF 910, NGV-LTF 912, and data 914 may bemodulated in accordance with indications of modulation in NGV-SIGs 908,922.

FIG. 12 illustrates a PPDU format 1200, 1250, 1275, in accordance withsome embodiments. PPDUs 1200, 1250, 1275 may be NGV (or IEEE 802.11bd)PPDUs. PPDUs 1200, 1250, 1275 may be transmitted over a bonded 30 MHzchannel comprising primary channel 1238, secondary channel 1 1240,secondary channel 2 1242. In some embodiments, the all seven channels802 may be bonded (total of 70 MHz). The primary channel 1238, secondarychannel 1 1240, secondary channel 2 1242 may each be a 10 MHz channel802 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8. PPDU 1250, 1275 may includethe same fields and may be transmitted within a 10 MHz channel, e.g.,secondary channel 1 1224 and secondary channel 2 1224, respectively. Insome embodiments, the primary channel 1238, secondary channel 1 1240,secondary channel 2 1242 do not have to be contiguous.

PPDU 1200 may include L-STF 1202, L-LTF 1204, L-SIG 1206, and data field1208, which may be similar or the same as disclosed in conjunction withFIG. 10. PPDUs 1250, 1275 may include L-STFs 1210, 1224, L-LTFs 1212,1226, L-SIGs 1214, 1228, NGV-SIGs 1216, 1230, NGV-STFs 1218, 1232,NGV-LTFs 1220, 1234, and data fields 1222, 1236, respectively. L-STFs1210, 1224, L-LTFs 1212, 1226, L-SIGs 1214, 1228, NGV-SIGs 1216, 1230,NGV-STFs 1218, 1232, NGV-LTFs 1220, 1234, and data fields 1222, 1236 maybe the same or similar as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 11.

In some embodiments, L-STFs 1202, 1210, 1224, L-LTFs 1204, 1212, 1226,and L-SIG 1206, 1214, 1228, may be transmitted to be compatible withlegacy devices, e.g., IEEE 802.11p. NGV-STF 1218, 1232, NGV-LTF 1220,1234, and data fields 1222, 1236 may be modulated in accordance withindications of modulation in NGV-SIGs 1216, 1230.

FIG. 13 illustrates a PPDU format 1300, 1250, in accordance with someembodiments. PPDUs 1300, 1350 may be NGV (or IEEE 802.11bd) PPDUs. PPDUs1300, 1250 may be transmitted over a bonded 30 MHz channel comprisingprimary channel 1332, secondary channel 1 1334, secondary channel 21336. In some embodiments, all seven of the channels 802 may be bonded(total of 70 MHz.) The primary channel 1332, secondary channel 1 1334,secondary channel 2 1336 may each be a 10 MHz channel 802 as disclosedin conjunction with FIG. 8. PPDU 1350 may be transmitted within a 20 MHzchannel, e.g., secondary channel 1 1224 and secondary channel 2 1224,with the fields L-STF 1310, L-LTF 1312, 1320, L-SIG 1314, 1322, andNGV-SIG 1316, 1324, repeated on each 10 MHz channel. In someembodiments, the primary channel 1332, secondary channel 1 1334,secondary channel 2 1336 do not have to be contiguous. In someembodiment, secondary channel 1 1334 and secondary channel 2 1336 haveto be contiguous.

PPDU 1300 may include L-STF 1306, L-LTF 1308, L-SIG 1310, and data field1312, which may be similar or the same as disclosed in conjunction withFIG. 10. PPDU 1350, may include L-STF 1310, L-LTF 1312, 1320, L-SIG1314, 1322, and NGV-SIG 1316, 1324, NGV-STFs 1326, NGV-LTFs 1328, anddata field 1330. L-STF 1310, L-LTF 1312, 1320, L-SIG 1314, 1322, andNGV-SIG 1316, 1324, NGV-STFs 1326, NGV-LTFs 1328, and data field 1330may be the same or similar as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 9.

In some embodiments, L-STFs 1302, 1310, 1318, L-LTFs 1304, 1312, 1320,L-SIG 1306, 1314, 1322, data field 1308, may be transmitted to becompatible with legacy devices, e.g., IEEE 802.11p. NGV-STF 1326,NGV-LTF 1328 and data field 1330 may be modulated in accordance withindications of modulation in NGV-SIGs 1316, 1324. NGV-SIGs 1316, 1324may be modulated in accordance with legacy communication protocols.

The terms primary channel, secondary channel, secondary channel 1, andsecondary channel 2 are used in FIGS. 9-13. The channels refer tochannels 802 as disclosed in FIG. 8. One or more of the channels may beassigned to specific channels by the communication protocol, e.g., IEEE802.11bd or NGV, in accordance with some embodiments. One or more of thechannels may be dynamically assigned based on communications between theAP 502 and/or STA(s) 504, in accordance with some embodiments. One ormore of the channels may be dynamically assigned based on the NGV SIG asdisclosed in conjunction with FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 illustrates a NGV SIG 1400, in accordance with some embodiments.Illustrated in FIG. 14 is NGV-SIG 1400 that comprises a bandwidth (BW)field 1402, a channel map 1404, tone allocation field 1406, and MCS1408. Each of the fields BW 1402, channel map 1404, and tone allocation1406 may be optional and/or not a field of the NGV-SIG 1400. The NGV-SIG1400 may be termed a BD-SIG or another name.

NGV-SIGs 908, 922, 1108, 1122, 1216, 1230, 1316, and 1324 may be anembodiment of NGV SIG 1400. The BW field 1402 may indicate a BW for aPPDU. For example, NGV-SIG 908, 922, 1108, 1122 may indicate 20 MHz.NGV-SIG 1216, 1230, 1316, 1324 may indicate 20 MHz. In some embodiments,BW field 1402 may indicate 30 MHz (or up to 70 MHz) and may indicatethat one of the channels will be separately transmitted. In someembodiments, the BW field 1402 may indicate a location of the channels802 to be used to transmit on by the AP 502 or STA 504. For example, ifthere is an indication of a primary channel, then the BW field 1402 mayindicate which channels 802 are to used to transmit on based on theprimary channel, e.g., primary channel and one secondary channel,primary channel, and two secondary channels.

The channel map field 1404 may indicate which channel 802 the PPDU is tobe transmitted on. For example, NGV-SIG 908, 922, may include a sevenbits with the primary channel 926 and secondary channel 924 bitindicated (e.g., a 1) as being used to transmit the PPDU. The receivingSTA 504 or AP 502 would then know on which channels 802 to receive thePPDU 900. NGV-SIG 1108, 1122 may include a channel map field 1404 thatindicate primary channel 1126 and secondary channel 1124. NGV-SIGs 1216,1230 may include channel map fields 1404 that may indicate the primarychannel 1126 and secondary channel 1124, respectively. In someembodiments, the channel map fields 1404 may indicate both primarychannel 1126 and secondary channel 1124 even though the PPDUs 1100, 1150are separately encoded. NGV-SIG 1216, 1230 may include channel mapfields 1404. The channel map fields 1404 may indicate the 10 MHz channelthe PPDU 1250, 1275 is being transmitted on or may indicate all thechannels that are being used to transmit the PPDUs 1200, 1250, 1275,primary channel 1200, secondary channel 1240, and secondary channel 21242, respectively.

NGV-SIGs 1316, 1324 may include channel map fields 1404 that mayindicate the secondary channel 1 1334 and secondary channel 2 1336. Insome embodiments, the channel map fields 1404 may indicate both primarychannel 1332, secondary channel 1 1334, and secondary channel 2 1336even though the PPDUs 1300, 1350 are separately encoded.

Tone allocation field 1406 may indicate a tone pattern or allocation forthe PPDU or PPDUs that are transmitted. For example, the tone allocationof PPDU 900 may be different from the tone allocation for PPDUs 1100,1150 as the tone allocation for PPDU 900 may include the use of tonesbetween the primary channel 1126 and secondary channel 1124. The toneallocation may be based on a communication protocol standard (e.g., IEEE802.11bd or NGV), e.g., an AP 502 and/or STA 504 may determine from acommunication protocol standard the tone allocation based on a size ofthe bonded channel and location of the bonded channel. NGV-SIG 1400 mayinclude a dynamic assignment (not illustrated) of a primary channel andone or more secondary channels to channels 802.

In some embodiments, the NGV-SIG 1400 (or another field of the PPDU) mayinclude an indication of whether channel bonding and/or 20 MHz operationis permitted. The indication of whether channel bonding and/or 20operation is permitted may include a timeout or an indication of aduration when channel bonding and/or 20 MHz operation is not permitted.In some embodiments, a message is sent to indicate that channel bondingis permitted.

The indication of whether channel bonding is permitted would be sent byan AP 502 or STA 504 (e.g., integrated in a Road Side Unit) that whendetected by other devices wanting to use channel bonding would onlyallow use of 10 MHz channels in the presence of the device sending thisindication of whether channel bonding is permitted. Additionally, theindication of whether channel bonding operation is permitted couldinclude features beyond just disallow, but include a timer or a regionattribute. In the case of the timer, the devices wishing to use channelbonding must defer to 10 MHz only channels for a time duration. Upon nothearing the indication not to use channel bonding again, they would beable to start using channel bonding. For added protection, STAs 504 andAP 502 that use channel bonding would be required to monitor each 10 MHzchannel for the indication of whether channel bonding is permitted, inaccordance with some embodiments. Additionally, the indication ofwhether channel bonding is permitted may include a region indication.Thus, within the region indicated, APs 502 and STAs 504 would not bepermitted to use channel bonding if the indication of whether channelbonding is permitted indicated that channel bonding is not permittedwith a given region, e.g., the indication of whether channel bondingoperation is permitted may include a location and a range (or just rangewith the receiving AP 502 or STA 504 estimating the location.) In someembodiments, even if channel bonding is not permitted, the AP 502 andSTA 504 may use multiple 10 MHz channels, but not with 20 MHzmodulation.

Having the timer or region based approach to the indication of whetherchannel bonding is permitted allows the AP 502 and STA 504 to reducesignaling overhead by sending the indication of whether channel bondingis permitted less frequently. The indication of whether channel bondingis permitted could be sent as a higher layer message or using the NGVSIG 1400, e.g., another field may be included in the NGV SIG 1400 suchas bonded permitted. Not permitting the channel bonding and/or 20 MHzoperation may enable better operation with legacy devices, e.g., IEEE802.11p, since the legacy devices may not be able to decode the 20 MHzoperation PPDUs and the 20 MHz PPDUs may interfere with 10 MHz legacyPPDUs being transmitted on a same channel 802.

In some embodiments, the NGV SIG 1400 may be the same or similar as a HTor VHT SIG with fields that may be used to indicate one or more of BWfield 1402, channel map 1404, and/or tone allocation 1406, as well otherindicates such as whether channel bonding is permitted and an indicationof a primary channel. The MCS field 1408 indicates a modulation andcoding scheme used to encode the data portion of the PPDU comprising theNGV-SIG 1400, e.g., data field 914, 1008, 1016, 1114, 1122, 1222, 1236,and 1330.

FIG. 15 illustrates network allocation vector (NAV) setting, inaccordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 15 is NAV set1502, PPDU 1504, STF 1506, remainder of PPDU 1508, primary CCA triggered1510, STF 1512, remainder of PPDU 1514, PPDU 1516, secondary CCAtriggered 1518, NAV set 1520, primary channel 1522, and secondarychannel 1524.

The primary channel 1522 and secondary channel 1524 may be channels 802as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 8. The primary channel 1522 may beindicated in a PPDU or may be predefined based on communication protocolstandard (e.g., IEEE 802.11bd). In some embodiments, the primary channelis indicated by a high-layer in the communication protocol for atransmission on which the STA 504 initiates the access.

An AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy device 506 may receive the PPDU 1504.A clear channel assessment (CCA) of the AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacydevice 506 may determine at primary CCA trigger 1510 that the channel isbusy during the reception of STF 1506. The CCA assessment may be basedon an energy level or signal detect level based on the radio frequency(RF) medium being sensed by the AP 502 and/or STA 504. The AP 502, STA504, and/or legacy device 506 may set a NAV of the AP 502, STA 504,and/or legacy device 506 to be busy for a duration of the PPDU 1504 asindicated by a L-SIG, e.g., L-SIG 906, 1006, 1106, 1206, 1306.

An AP 502 and/or STA 504 may receive the PPDU 1516. A CCA of the AP 502and/or STA 504 may determine at secondary CCA trigger 1518 that thechannel is busy during the reception of STF 1512. The AP 502 and/or STA504 may set a NAV of the AP 502 and/or STA 504 to be busy for apredetermined duration. For example, the duration may be based on acommon type of PPDU, e.g., basic safety messages that are 300B long andare modulated with the most protected modulation and coding scheme(MCS).

In some embodiments, the AP 502 and/or STA 504 are configured to performa MAC channel access protocol where an AP 502 or STA 504 that operateson a 20 MHz channel has a primary 10 MHz channel and one or moresecondary 10 MHz channels. The AP 502 or STA 504 monitors the CCA andNAV on the primary channel and decrements its backoff during idleperiods when the NAV equals 0. When the backoff reaches zero, the AP 502or STA 504 may transmit on the primary 10 MHz channel. If shortinterframe space (SIFS) time (or another time, e.g., PIFS, DIFS,AIFS[EDCA class]), etc.) before reaching the backoff of zero, thesecondary channel or channels energy detection CCA is idle, the STA isallowed to transmit on the wider channel, i.e., the primary channel andthe one or more secondary channels. In some embodiments, the AP 502and/or STA 504 includes sensors so that the AP 502 and/or STA 504 canmonitor two or more 10 MHz channels separately. In some embodiments, theAP 502 and/or STA 504 monitor a primary channel and when a backoffcounter is 0, they turn to a secondary channel they want to use totransmit on too and if that secondary channel is not busy for a SIFSduration (or another duration), then the AP 502 and/or STA 504 may useboth the primary channel and the secondary channel.

The duplicate preamble (e.g., as disclosed in FIGS. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)on the two or more 10 MHz channels allows coexistence with legacy device506 (e.g., IEEE 802.11p devices), which will decode the duplicatedpreambles and defer during the PPDU reception based on the durationfield in the L-SIG, e.g., L-SIG 906, 920, 1006, 1014, 1106, 1120, 1206,1214, 1228, 1306, 1314, 1322).

In some embodiments, the AP 502 and/or STA 504 may be configured toperform mid-packet detection to improve the sensitivity of the energydetection to improve protection for the secondary channel. For example,the mid-packet detection may detect a PPDU being transmitted on thesecondary channel by another AP 502, STA 504, and/or legacy device 506,and by performing mid-packet detection the AP 502, STA 504, and/orlegacy device 506 may avoid transmitting on the secondary channel andinterfering with the other transmission.

In some embodiments, the sensitivity for CCA may be adjusted. In someembodiments, the sensitivity for CCA on the secondary channels may be−75 dBm, which is 10 dB above the minimum sensitivity threshold of −85dBm permitted in IEEE 802.11p. The minimum sensitivity by APs 502, STA504, and/or legacy devices 506 may be −90 to −95 dBm.

In some embodiments, a lower threshold is used by APs 502 and/or STAs504 to improve the sensitivity of the secondary channel detection byimproving mid-packet detection. In some embodiments, APs 502 and/or STAs504 are configured to perform parallel STF detections on two channelsindependently, e.g., primary and secondary channels. In someembodiments, an AP 502 and/or STA 504 is configured so it can issue twophysical (PHY)-CCA.indications, one for each channel, with the CCA oneach channel being made of energy detection CCA and preamble/STFdetection CCA. In some embodiments, a CCA on the secondary channel,e.g., based on a SIG field is detected when it would not have been withonly the capability to perform CCA on one channel. In some embodiments,an AP 502 and/or STA 504 set a NAV or protect for a duration of the PPDUdetected on the channel. In some embodiments, the AP 502 and/or STA 504may assume that if the autocorrelation of the STF signal on thesecondary channel triggers a detection, the CCA becomes busy for apre-determined period. This period shall correspond to the average PPDUduration on the channel, in accordance with some embodiments. Thisduration should be relatively constant, as most of the MAC Protocol DataUnits (MPDUs) are BSMs that are 300B long, and are modulated with themost protected MCS. The lowering of the threshold used by the AP 502and/or STA 504 may improve the coexistence on the secondary channelswith legacy devices 506.

In some embodiments, the PPDU length is fixed for legacy devices 506transmitting PPDUs. The NAV of the APs 502 and/or STAs 504 may be setbased on the fixed length of the PPDUs when a PPDU is detected on asecondary channel.

In some embodiments, where the primary channel does not need to be knownby the receiver of the PPDU(s), the transmitter (e.g., AP 502 and/or STA504) can choose its primary channel among possible channels 802. If theAP 502 and/or STA 504 has the capability to do Enhanced DistributedChannel Access (EDCA) contention in parallel on different channels 802,and has a Backoff counter per channel 802, the AP 502 and/or STA 504 candynamically change the primary channel to choose a primary channel asthe one on which the EDCA counter reaches zero first. The other channelsbecome secondary channels, where the AP 502 and/or STA 504 may includesecondary channels based on whether they are clear a PIFS or SIFSduration before the primary channel becomes available.

In some embodiments, the AP 502 and/or STA 504 does not need to knowwhat the primary channel is, as long as it can receive on all thechannels simultaneously. For example, based on multi-channel operationas disclosed in 1609 communication protocol standards. Instead ofsignaling the BW of the PPDU, and deriving the modulated channels basedon the BW and the knowledge of the primary channel, the transmitter(e.g., AP 502 and/or STA 504) encodes the SIG field (e.g., NGV-SIG 1400)of the PPDU to include explicit information of the channels used totransmit one or more PPDUs, e.g., channel map 1404. In anotherembodiment, the BW field 1402 may include a combination of bits thatcover all possible cases or modulated channels.

In some embodiments, the primary channel 802.5 can be fixed, e.g., CCH,or can be dynamically changed and announced as part of a serviceadvertisement. For example, an AP 502 and/or STA 504 may transmit aservice advertisement that indicates which channel 802 should be used asthe primary channel.

In some embodiments, the data field 914, 1008, 1016, 1114, 1122, 1208,1222, 1236, 1308, 1330 comprises a PSDU that is transmitted over all thechannels 802 (or at least two of the bonded channels) where the PSDUcomprises a single MPDU or aggregated (A)-MPDU (or MSDU or A-MSDU)coming from the MAC layer and is encoded with a single encoder andmodulated with the same MCS across channels.

In some embodiments, all or some channels 802 are modulated with aspecific MPDU or A-MPDU, meaning that there can be multiple MAC flowsthat are modulated independently (channel coder and modulation) andtransmitted in parallel over different channels, but sharing inverseFast Fourier Transform (iFFT). For example, secondary channel 1 1240 andsecondary channel 2 1242 may be modulated with different MPDUs orA-MPDUs.

In some embodiments, the NGV-SIG 1400 may include a field to indicatethe type of modulation is being used, e.g., whether a single chain fromthe MAC is being used or two or more chains are being used from the MAC.In some embodiments, a mixture of single modulation and multiplemodulation may be used and the field in the NGV-SIG 1400 may indicatethe type for the channels 802 being used to transmit on. For example,some channels 802 may have a self-contained PPDU that is transmittedwithin the channel 802 (e.g., primary channel 1332) and other channelsmay have MPDUs or A-MPDUs that are transmitted over two or more channels802, e.g., data field 1330 is transmitted over two channels secondarychannel 1 1334 and secondary channel 2 1336. In some embodiments,receiving data 1308 may be sufficient to reconstruct the MPDU and onother channels a bonded PPDU is transmitted across multiple channels,which can be received by receiving all these channels, e.g., secondarychannel 1 1334 and secondary channel 2 1336. In some embodiments, thebonded channels do not have to be contiguous.

In some embodiments, a single MAC flow (e.g., MPDUs) is modulated overall channels, and one where each channel is modulated with one separateMAC flow (which will go through a specific encoder per channel).

FIG. 16 illustrates a method 1600 for channel bonding and bonded channelaccess, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1600 begins atoperation 1602 with gain access to a first 10 MHz channel when a backoffcounter equals zero. The method 1600 continues at operation 1604 withgain access to a second 10 MHz channel when a sensed energy level of thesecond 10 MHz channel is below a threshold energy detection level apredetermined duration before the backoff counter equals zero.

For example, AP 502 or STA 504 may gain access to two channels 802 asdisclosed in conjunction with FIG. 15 and herein. The method 1600 maycontinue at operation 1606 with encoding a PPDU for transmission over abonded channel, the bonded channel comprising the first 10 MHz channeland the second 10 MHz channel, where the PPDU is encoded to comprise alegacy preamble portion to be transmitted on the first 10 MHz channeland a repeated legacy preamble portion to be transmitted on the second10 MHz channel, the PPDU further comprising a non-legacy portion, thenon-legacy portion comprising a non-legacy signal field indicating a MCSused to encode a data portion of the non-legacy portion, the dataportion to be transmitted on the bonded channel. For example, an AP 502and/or STA 504 may encode a PPDU as described in conjunction with FIGS.9 and 13 with a NGV-SIG 1400 as described in conjunction with FIG. 14.

The method 1600 may continue at operation 1608 with configuring thewireless device to transmit the PPDU on the bonded channel. For example,an apparatus of an AP 502 or STA 504 may configure the AP 502 or the STA504 to transmit a PPDU as disclosed in FIGS. 8-15. Method 1600 may beperformed in a different order. Method 1900 may include one or moreadditional operations. One or more of the operations of method 1900 maybe optional.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method 1700 for channel bonding and bonded channelaccess, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1700 may beginat operation 1702 with decoding a PPDU over a bonded channel, the bondedchannel comprising a first 10 MHz channel and a second 10 MHz channel,where the PPDU comprises a legacy preamble portion on the first 10 MHzchannel, and a repeated legacy preamble portion on the second 10 MHzchannel, the PPDU further comprising a non-legacy portion, thenon-legacy portion comprising a non-legacy signal field indicating a MCSused to encode a data portion of the non-legacy portion.

The method 1700 may continue at operation 1704 with decoding the dataportion on the bonded channel if the non-legacy signal field indicatesthe PPDU is transmitted over the bonded channel. For example, an apparatof an AP 502 or STA 504 may decode the data field 914, 1008, 1016, 1114,1122, 1222, 1236, and 1330.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a wireless device, the apparatuscomprising: memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, theprocessing circuitry configured to: sense an energy level from a first10 MHz; gain access to the first 10 MHz channel when a backoff counterequals zero; decrease the backoff counter by one when the energy levelis below a first threshold energy detection level for a firstpredetermined duration, wherein a second threshold energy detectionlevel is less than or equal to the first threshold energy detectionlevel; gain access to a second 10 MHz channel when a sensed energy levelof the second 10 MHz channel is below the second threshold energydetection level a predetermined duration before the backoff counterequals zero; encode a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) fortransmission over a bonded channel, the bonded channel comprising thefirst 10 MHz channel and the second 10 MHz channel, wherein the PPDU isencoded to comprise a legacy preamble portion to be transmitted on thefirst 10 MHz channel and a repeated legacy preamble portion to betransmitted on the second 10 MHz channel, the PPDU further comprising anon-legacy portion, the non-legacy portion comprising a non-legacysignal field indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used toencode a data portion of the non-legacy portion, the data portion to betransmitted on the bonded channel; and configure the wireless device totransmit the PPDU on the bonded channel.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode thenon-legacy signal field to comprise a channel map field, the channel mapfield comprising an indication that the PPDU is to be transmitted on thefirst 10 MHz channel and the second 10 MHz channel.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:encode the non-legacy signal field on the first 10 MHz channel and arepeated non-legacy signal field on the second 10 MHz channel.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: gain access to a third 10 MHz channel; encode anotherPPDU for transmission over the third 10 MHz channel, wherein the anotherPPDU is encoded to comprise another legacy preamble portion to betransmitted on the third 10 MHz channel, the another PPDU furthercomprising another non-legacy portion, the another non-legacy portioncomprising another non-legacy signal field indicating another MCS usedto encode another data portion of the another non-legacy portion, theanother data portion to be transmitted on the third channel; andconfigure the wireless device to transmit the another PPDU on the thirdchannel simultaneously with the PPDU on the bonded channel.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: receive a media access control (MAC) service data unit(MSDU); and encode the PPDU and the another PPDU to comprise the MSDU.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: receive a first media access control (MAC) service dataunit (MSDU) and a second MSDU; and encode the PPDU to comprise the firstMSDU and the second MSDU.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to: decode a third PPDU, thethird PPDU comprising an indication of a primary channel, and whereinthe first 10 MHz channel is the primary channel.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the predetermined duration is a short interframe space(SIFS), Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) interframe spacing(DIFS), or Point coordination function (PCF) interface spacing (PIFS).9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first 10 MHz channel is aprimary channel and wherein the non-legacy signal field comprises abandwidth field, the bandwidth field indicating the first 10 MHz channeland the second 10 MHz channel.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinencode the PPDU for transmission over the bonded channel furthercomprises: determine a tone allocation for the first channel and thesecond channel; and encode the PPDU for transmission over the bondedchannel based on the tone allocation.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry comprises a field-programmable gatearray (FPGA).
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry comprises one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless device isconfigured to operate in accordance with one or more from the followinggroup: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11bd,IEEE 802.11p, and IEEE 802.11, and wherein the wireless device is astation (STA) or an access point (AP).
 14. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for executionby one or more processors of an apparatus of a wireless device, theinstructions to configure the one or more processors to: sense an energylevel from a first 10 MHz; gain access to the first 10 MHz channel whena backoff counter equals zero; decrease the backoff counter by one whenthe energy level is below a first threshold energy detection level for afirst predetermined duration, wherein a second threshold energydetection level is less than or equal to the first threshold energydetection level; gain access to a second 10 MHz channel when a sensedenergy level of the second 10 MHz channel is below the second thresholdenergy detection level a predetermined duration before the backoffcounter equals zero; encode a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit(PPDU) for transmission over a bonded channel, the bonded channelcomprising the first 10 MHz channel and the second 10 MHz channel,wherein the PPDU is encoded to comprise a legacy preamble portion to betransmitted on the first 10 MHz channel and a repeated legacy preambleportion to be transmitted on the second 10 MHz channel, the PPDU furthercomprising a non-legacy portion, the non-legacy portion comprising anon-legacy signal field indicating a modulation and coding scheme (MCS)used to encode a data portion of the non-legacy portion, the dataportion to be transmitted on the bonded channel; and configure thewireless device to transmit the PPDU on the bonded channel.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theinstructions further configure the one or more processors to: decrease avalue of a backoff counter when the first energy level is below a firstenergy detection level and a network allocation vector (NAV) for thefirst 10 MHz channel indicates not busy; if the value of the backoffcounter is zero, sense a second energy level of the second 10 MHzchannel, and determine the second channel is not busy when the secondenergy level is below a second energy detection level, wherein the firstenergy detection level is higher than the second energy detection level;and wherein gain access to a first 10 MHz channel and to a second 10 MHzchannel further comprises: gain access to the first 10 MHz channel andthe second 10 MHz channel, if the backoff counter is zero and the secondchannel is not busy for a predetermined duration short interframe space(SIFS) before the counter is zero.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructionsfurther configure the one or more processors to: if the second energydetection level is above the second energy detection level, set a NAVfor the second 10 MHz channel to a predetermined value.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, whereingain access to the first 10 MHz channel and the second 10 MHz channelfurther comprises: simultaneously sense signals from the first 10 MHzchannel and the second 10 MHz channel; decrease a first backoff counterby one when the first 10 MHz channel has been not busy for apredetermined period of time; decrease a second backoff counter by onewhen the first 10 MHz channel has been not busy for a predeterminedperiod of time; gain access to the first 10 MHz channel when the firstbackoff counter equals zero; and gain access to the second 10 HMZchannel when the second backoff counter equals zero.